Family Issues
by ChibiTotoroSophie
Summary: Gene finds out that he has a sister! But who is her father, Mr. Dougle, why doesn't he come and get his daughter? And why does that name sound so familiar?


Family Issues  
  
By: Sophie Vranian  
  
Chapter 1: Picking up the Mail  
  
"Gene? Gene, where are you going?"  
  
"Out, Sara, I'm going out."  
  
"And leave me to baby-sit again!?"  
  
Gene sighed and picked up his sunglasses, "Me and Melfina are going out, and we're going alone. I've had enough of you for a while. And Jimmy doesn't need babysitting, it's Aisha you have to worry about." He put the glasses on and tugged at his shirt collar.  
  
Sara looked at her older brother with begging eyes, "But Gene can't I just go out shopping or something Suzuka said she'd take me." She stomped her foot, hoping to get her brother's attention, but he was distracted, looking off at the stairs where Melfina was coming down, stepping lightly so as not to trip in the heels she was wearing. She smiled at Gene and smoothed her short black dress where it had bunched up at the knees. Sara, catching the glance between the two, sighed somewhat longingly, and plopped onto the couch, her arms folded across her chest.  
  
"S'not fair," she mumbled. But Gene ignored her and held out his arm to Melfina instead, who had stepped up beside him, and she took it, smiling.  
  
"Sara, we'll be back around 11." Shooting a glance over at his sister, she scrunched up her face, and nodded.  
  
"Fine. I'll be here."  
  
Melfina turned her head, "Does she want to come, Gene? She can, I don't mind." Sara sat up hopefully, but knowing that nothing would come out of it.  
  
"No, she's going to stay here. She doesn't want to go anyway." Smirking, he led Melfina out the door. It whooshed back into its air lock, and Sara was left to pout in silence.  
  
"At least you have a girlfriend."  
  
Mumbling, she wandered into the cockpit to talk to Jimmy.  
  
1 Two Weeks Earlier  
  
Walking into the post office, Gene stopped at the counter, typed in his box number, and a pile of mail appeared on the tray in front of him. Locking his box, he took the mail and, looking through it, walked slowly back the ship.  
  
"Hey, Jimmy, you got somethin' from your mom," grinning and trying to hold back a laugh, he set the pink envelope, admitting an aroma of flowery perfume, on the dashboard where Jimmy snatched it then turned and tear it open. Gene sat with his back against the window, his feet propped up on the dash. He took one last look through the mail and stopped; spotting an envelope he hadn't noticed earlier.  
  
"Wow!" Jimmy swung around in his chair, "My sister's getting married, and her fiancé has a K-Glider! Do you know how hard those things are to find, much less how expensive they are?!" Setting the letter down, he pulled out a small chip taped to the paper and inserted it into a slot in the dash. A window opened in front of him, showing a 3D photo of a young woman with long blonde hair posing in front of a small ship shaped like a bird and painted yellow. An older woman, smiling brightly and a young man with short brown hair stood on either side of her. Jimmy glanced at the photo then picked up his letter again, continuing to read about the wonderful life his sister will have married to a wealthy man. But Gene was looking at the letter in his hand, having set the other mail aside. He squinted at the type on the sticker: Child Welfare and Adoption: Earth, it read. Sliding his finger under the adhesive, he opened it and took out the folded paper.  
  
Dear Mr. Starwind,  
  
He looked up, but Jimmy was still absorbed in his reading; he continued down the page:  
  
Dear Mr. Starwind,  
  
We are sending this letter due to the recent passing of your mother. We are very sorry for your loss and wish you the best of luck in coping with her death. Also, we would like to inform you of your sister, Sara. She is currently staying here at the adoption center and is doing fine. She was asked if she had any living relatives she could stay with, and she only knew of two; her father, Mr. Dougle, and you. Because we were not able to track down Mr. Dougle, she requested us to send you this letter, asking for a place to stay, maybe until her father appears.  
  
It would be very much appreciated if you would be able to take Sara in. She is in good health; after being taken here she was given a full check-up. Please respond as soon as possible to the address below.  
  
Thank you for your time.  
  
Sincerely-  
  
Head of Adoption Center, Noah Suiko  
  
Child Welfare and Adoption: Earth  
  
48321 Industry RD,  
  
Unit 7430, Western Australia, 1039-00926  
  
He stared in shock at the words he had just read. His mother, dead? His father had died ten years ago, and now his mother was gone too? And a sister? His mother had married again after dad crashed; had a daughter? Maybe not even married, just a pick up at a bar. He had never even met the girl. How old was she? Who was this Mr. Dougle and why did he leave? Lowering the hand holding the paper, he let it rest on one of his knees. Jimmy, finished with his mail, was now typing rapidly on his keyboard, bringing up various windows about the K-Glider, which surrounded the photo.  
  
"Gene, Gene, look at this! It's amazing! How he could have gotten one, it's just… amazing! Gene?" Jimmy looked up at his friend's blank stare. "What's wrong?"  
  
He took a breath before reaching out to hand Jimmy the letter. Jimmy took it and Gene watched the expression on his face change as each sentence passed over his eyes.  
  
"Gene, I'm so sorry…" He looked up, "Your mother…I'm sorry." He tried to smile.  
  
"I have a sister."  
  
Jimmy raised an eyebrow, "Well, yeah, but your mom, you didn't even get to go to the funeral."  
  
"She had another kid with another good for nothing…" He trailed off. "And she's alone now, wanting to come stay here. Didn't you even notice that?"  
  
"Yeah, just found the death of your mother, who happened to be a very nice lady, and your father wasn't a good for nothing by the way, more shocking."  
  
"You have a good family, Jimmy, don't try to understand screwed up people with screwed up lives; like me, it'll get you killed." Leaning forward, he snatched the letter away from Jimmy's hands. "And you've never met my mother. I hardly even knew her. I was born, and I went with my dad on space adventures until he crashed and died."  
  
"Your dad was cool."  
  
"I was 15 when he died, you weren't even born yet." Gene sighed, "After we left she probably got pregnant again and didn't tell us."  
  
"Tell who?"  
  
"Me and my dad, stupid."  
  
Glaring coldly, Jimmy leaned back in his chair. "How old do you think your sister is now, then?"  
  
"I don't know, Jim. Younger than I am by at least a couple years."  
  
"Well, what're you gonna do?"  
  
"What?" He sighed, "I can't just leave her in Australia." He didn't remember hearing about his mother moving from their home in Canada to Australia, but then again, the last letter he had gotten from her was when he was on one of his space trips with Dad, before the crash. "I'll have to write and say I can take her."  
  
"You know, Aisha's enough already… another girl?"  
  
"You know you like it, you rat. You're surrounded by women all day!" Pushing himself into his cockpit, he brought up a blank window and sat staring at it. "Dear Mr. Suiko,"  
  
Jimmy leaned over and looked over Gene's shoulder at the letter he was typing, "I'm surrounded by woman, yeah, but I can't do anything about it because they're all either claimed by you, over age, or a different psycho species." He sighed, "Want some help? No offence, but you're not the best at doing what you're trying to do." Gene nodded and got up, allowing Jimmy to slide into the seat. "Ok, I'm ready."  
  
Gene nodded, and sat on the dashboard of the left side cockpit. "Well, say something like… I just got your letter-"  
  
"-And thank you for your concern about my mother." Jimmy typed while he spoke.  
  
"Yeah, that too."  
  
"I, would, like, to, except, your, offer, to, have, Sara…" He said as he typed, "to, come, stay, with, me, until her father shows up?"  
  
Gene nodded.  
  
The docking ports of Eagle Seven, a space city located a couple miles off a small forest planet, were almost all filled. Gene carefully maneuvered the Outlaw Star into one of the open, but still crowed docks, fighting his way past several different ships each trying to take the landing bay. Jimmy had brought up a map of the new city and as they sat in the unloading dock of their ship, Jimmy carefully pointed out the way.  
  
"Alright, see right here you turn left and go into this building. Right here, it's called Trew Gates. Go up and threw the skyway tunnel and you should see the office right there." He folded the map and handed it to his partner. "If you miss it, just look for private dock number five."  
  
Gene glanced at his watch, "Jim… you sure about this?"  
  
His face was blank, "The directions are right. I double checked."  
  
"No, this place. It doesn't look right… especially as the type of city a child welfare company would choose…"  
  
"Gene, I don't know! I didn't pick the place. Just go get Sara. Go." He pushed Gene forward, and with a look he stumbled into the street, pulling his cape up high on his neck.  
  
He looked down into his hand, at the folded paper with the address of the child welfare office written in tight chicken scratches. He squinted at the ink, and then looked up around him at the buildings and the signs and began to walk down the street.  
  
He kicked at rocks littering the road as he walked, and crumbled and recrumbled the paper in his hand, glancing up and down the lanes. People passing him were mostly dressed in bright colors, but very little clothing actually touching their bodies. As he walked, he realized the sense of their dress as he started to sweat under the heavy cape. Looking up, he noticed the glare of a bright orange spot, and turning the corner he looked up again, noticing the other shine in the sky.  
  
"Great, a multi-sunned planet…" he mumbled.  
  
Looking up a small restaurant at the corner, he pushed open the door, deciding to ask for directions, Jim's having failed. He walked up to the counter to a beautiful woman staring out the window. He cleared his throat.  
  
"Excuse me, but do you know where I can find this building?" Fumbling with the crumbled paper in his hand, he smoothed it out on the counter in front of the woman. Licking her lips, she smiled and looked down at the writing.  
  
"Oh, sure," she finally said, in a slightly accented voice. Bending between the stool legs she was sitting on, she pulled up a large metal box and slammed it on the counter. She started to push buttons and a small screen popped up. "Alright, we're here…" a flashing red dot appeared on the screen. Gene leaned against the counter to get a look. She went on to bring up a map of the city and show him the buildings, asking several times for the address on his paper. He gladly told her over and over, taking advantage of the skimpy clothing and her exposed flesh. After she explained, she looked up, found him staring at her opened shirt, and glared at him.  
  
""Cuse me, but…"  
  
"Thanks, babe." He flashed her a grin and with a slap of his hand on the table, turned and left the building.  
  
"Alright…" he glanced at his watch, "Almost noon, lets try and find this building, Gene. Trew Gates…. Dock number 5?" He looked at the paper then up again at the buildings.  
  
Under the hot suns, he pulled his cape off. He was now sweating pretty heavily. He switched his cape from hand to hand as he walked, fanning at his armpits with each step. "Geeze, it's too hot!" He cursed. The different stores around him tugged at him as he passed, catching a whiff of the cool air-conditioned air inside. He stopped in each doorway to cool off until the managers had to come out and shoo him away.  
  
After a half hour of wandering around the streets of Eagle Seven, he ran face first into a metal wall, absorbing the cold from the metal. He rubbed his cheek against it and moaned, "I'm never going to find this place!" Turning his back to the metal, he slid down the wall and sat on the ground. "Why would they hide a child welfare office?" Across the street, his eye caught the light of a small bar filled with talking people and cool air. He rubbed the back of his head along the cold metal before getting up and striding across the street to the bar.  
  
The cold air inside smelt of liquor and perfume. Gene grinned widely and walked to the bar where an old man was quietly rubbing a glass with a white cloth, the old fashion way. Gene pulled up into a swiveling chair and asked the bar maid in a short blue dress for a drink.  
  
"Hot outside," Gene said to the old man. He stared at the wrinkled face, but got no response. The bar maid returned with an iced drink and set it in front of him.  
  
"Here you go." She smiled and looked at him, "New around here?"  
  
He nodded, still staring at the old man.  
  
The woman smiled and reached over the bar to poke the man in the shoulder, "He doesn't talk, just stands there washing his glass all day. Takes no orders from no body, that right, Bill? Hmm?" She laughed, then turned back to Gene, who sipped his drink and turned in his chair to face the barmaid.  
  
"Where you from?" She asked, leaning on the counter with a milky arm.  
  
"Nowhere, and everywhere."  
  
She laughed, "Wanderer? Outlaw? No…" She looked him up and down. "Police?"  
  
"You were right the second time," Gene laughed a bit at her wide smile.  
  
"Outlaw? Don't look like much of an outlaw to me."  
  
"New breed of outlaws, we're very sneaky." Turning to set his glass on the counter, the paper with the address on it slipped from his fingers. The bar maid bent and picked it up, opening it as she stood. Her eyebrow rose a bit.  
  
"Child welfare? What, are you a daddy?" She laughed and handed him the paper. "A bit young. How old are you? 20? Don't go messin' around with girls if you don't intend to stay with them."  
  
Gene turned back and snatched the paper. "I don't need your wisdom right now. And for the record, I'm picking up my sister," he growled. "Listen, woman, can you or can you not direct me to this Trew Gates so I can not be late for once in my life." He eyed the bar maid with a glare.  
  
She bit her lip staring right back at him, and sighed. "Ok. I'm off in ten minutes. Can you wait that long? It's hard to give directions without actually walking them there."  
  
Gene paused a moment, then nodded and sat back down.  
  
Twenty minutes later, a miracle had happened. Gene was standing in the doorway of a building named Trew Gates and soaking in the air conditioning from inside. The bar woman stood out in the sun, and waved a bit as he lifted a hand in thanks and turned into the revolving doors.  
  
The doors took him inside the building. He looked around. It was just like any other office buildings. Fake plants in large pots stood in the corners, a big metal information desk sat right in the back middle of the large echoing room. Looking up at the high ceiling, he walked over to the stairs and slowly began to climb up.  
  
The air inside was so cold; soon Gene had to pull his cape back on over his shoulders. He shuddered as he passed under a vent spewing cold air and into another freezing hallway. There were doors on all sides of the hall. He walked down the wooden floor, listening to only his boots tapping on the ground, and ran his hand along the wall, reading each plaque posted by every door. Finally he stopped and saw what he was looking for: Child Welfare and Adoption: Eagle Seven. He pushed open the door.  
  
A man sat at the desk at the far side of the room. He was busily writing on papers stacked around him and pounding on his keyboard, all while holding a old fashion telephone up to his ear and talking loudly to a screaming voice on the other end. Gene cringed as he came up to the desk and went to push the tiny bell. The man looked up over his thick glasses and gave him a scowl, telling him he would die if he rang that bell.  
  
"Yes, ma'am. Please, yes… I know…" he sighed into the phone. "Listen, we will try our best to see what we can do. What? Yes, find your kid, I know. Please." He rolled his eyes, "We'll contact you as soon as possible, now good-bye, Mrs. Kiner!" He slammed the phone down and wrote something frantically on his papers.  
  
Gene coughed softly into his hand.  
  
"Yes?" The man looked up over his glasses again. "May I be of service to you?"  
  
"I'm here to pick someone up," Gene said.  
  
"Name."  
  
"Gene Starwind."  
  
The man typed into his computer, and a few seconds later, "I'm sorry, we're not expecting anyone called Gene Starwind to arrive this afternoon."  
  
"Oh," Gene turned a bit pink, "No, that was my name. I'm here to pick up my sister. Umm…" he thought a moment while the man sighed, waiting impatiently. "Sara Dougle I think…"  
  
"All right," the man typed again at his computer and a few moments later, "Yes, she's coming in from Earth, correct?"  
  
Gene nodded.  
  
"She's not yet landed, but her ship will be arriving at Dock number 5 in, oh say… maybe two or three hours."  
  
Gene's jaw dropped. "I called this morning and the lady on the phone said she would be in by one! It's already three o'clock, and I have an arrangement to make in a hour!"  
  
The man sighed and dropped his pen, "I truly am very sorry, sir, but all Sara Dougles won't be in until the ship lands, which isn't for a while yet. Would you like to know where her ship is at this current moment?"  
  
"Please," Gene leaned on the counter, letting his green-eyed gaze sink deep into the tiny man.  
  
The man jittered nervously under Gene's look, and turned back to his computer. "She is just now flying a few miles off of Saturn, threw the rings. If you have to make a previous arrangement, I would be glad to communicate with the ship and ask our people to have Sara Dougle delivered to the spot of your choosing." He sighed.  
  
Gene turned around, his back to the man, and ran a hand threw his hair. "Three hours, huh?" He turned back around, "Nah, that's fine. I can… rearrange my previous arrangement. Dock 5?"  
  
The man nodded.  
  
"What's your name?" Gene asked the man.  
  
The man gulped, "Leonard Gehare."  
  
"Well, Leonard, I'll pick Sara up right here then in three hours. And if it's any longer than that, I'll have to make a personal trip to see you. You see, this pervious arrangement was very important, and the man I would going to see will not be very happy to have me rearranging things on him." He grinned and clapped Leonard on the shoulder happily before turning and striding out of the room, followed by the nervous twitching eyes of the tiny man.  
  
Gene stopped outside the building and leaned against the old bricks. Lifting his arm, he flipped up his watch cover and pushed in a button.  
  
"Hey, Jimmy," he spoke into the tiny speaker.  
  
"Gene, that you?" A fuzzy voice responded.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Sara with you?"  
  
"No, her fight's not in until a couple more hours."  
  
"Hours? But we have to go met Fred!"  
  
"I know, Jim. We'll just have to rearrange our previous engagement."  
  
"What are you talking about? Fred won't care at all. Anyway, he's used to you always standing him up."  
  
"I'm not standing him up!" Gene spat. "Besides, this has to do with family. So what am I supposed to do? Leave Sara here? Maybe she's one of those crybaby types. Imagine her standing here crying with tears running down her face and boogers making her nose all crusty and—"  
  
"Shut up! Ok, I get it! Sheesh…"  
  
"So call Fred and tell him."  
  
"We ordered Casters, Gene! And parts for the Outlaw! And Gilliam's new thingy doodle he asked for!"  
  
"Jim…"  
  
"Do you know how much more debt we'll be in if we don't pick this stuff up!"  
  
"Jim…"  
  
"We can't keep asking Fred Luo to store all this stuff for us! He has warehouses it! And you know how much we need it too! The Outlaw Star is a complete wreck! And Gilliam busted his shell again and you're out of Caster Shells! What happens if we met up with pirates again? How are you going to protect Melfina? Hello, Gene? Are you even listening!?"  
  
"Jimmy, think of the girl."  
  
"Oh shut up!" There was a long silence. "Fine. What are you going to do?"  
  
"I am going to stay here until her ship shows. You are going to call Fred."  
  
"Ah, Gene…"  
  
"And make sure Aisha doesn't eat anything she's not supposed to. If I'm having my sister come live with us, then I'm not going to have to keep kicking that animal away from the fridge every twenty seconds. We're low enough on food as it is, and the more food we buy, the more money we lose."  
  
"No worries there. Ever since you gave her that game, she's been to busy being taken over by 'I love you! I want you! I need you! Liar!'."  
  
"Good. I'll see you in a bit."  
  
"Bye, Gene."  
  
"Bye." He let go of the button with a sigh and slid down the wall, getting comfortable for a long wait.  
  
Two hours later, Gene looked up at the sound of rushing air. Sitting up and blinking sleep away from his eyes, he looked up at the posting of flights docking at number 5. He watched as neon green words scrolled across the screen, announcing the arrival of a small ship called Blue Canary, and the cargo it was carrying: crates of liquor for the near-by bars, and a someone for the child welfare office.  
  
Gene yawned and stood up. The gate to the dock wasn't opened to the public, so he strode over and leaned against the rickety garage of the building next to it. He watched as the gate slowly opened and trolleys of metal crates drove out. The garage behind him started to shake and slowly open, he moved away, pulling his cape from getting caught in the springs, and stepped aside to let the cars drive through. The poster scrolling words came to a halt and stopped, flashed once, and went blank. Gene stared at it, wondering what to do next.  
  
"Excuse me, sir?"  
  
He looked up to the dock gate and noticed a woman in flight uniform standing at the gate, a suitcase at her feet, and a girl standing behind her, looking up and around at the parts of the small city she could see from her spot behind the woman. The flight woman was talking to Leonard, who seemed to have come down from his office when the ship arrived, and they stood off to the side by a small back door leading into the building of Trew Gates. Gene yawned again and spat at the ground, waiting for Leonard to recognize him and call him over. He cleared his throat rather loudly, in hopes of being noticed.  
  
Leonard shook the woman's hand warmly and smiled at her, "Welcome to Eagle Seven. Ah, this must be Sara Dougle. Nice to met you, Sara." He held out his hand. The girl gave him a look, but took it. Leonard smiled again. "Have all your baggage?"  
  
The flight attendant nodded and pointed to the bag at her feet, "She only came with this one. It's mostly clothes and some personal items. Oh, and a small bag with some magazines and papers. Nothing big."  
  
"All right. Well, if you two would come with me, I'll check Sara in." He turned and opened the door for the two women, then picked up the suitcase and dragged it through the door after them.  
  
Gene stared blankly at where they had gone into the building. "Fine," he said, and flipped up his watch.  
  
"Jim?"  
  
"Gene! Man, it's been forever, is she there yet?"  
  
"Yeah, just got in. That little snob man didn't even see me."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Nothing. Listen, I'll be about a half hour longer here, then we'll met you back at the Outlaw Star."  
  
"Yep. Hey, Gene, I'm talking to Fred. He wants to talk to you."  
  
"Now? God. Ok, put him on."  
  
There were some clicking noises as Jim hooked his communicator up to the phone-screen.  
  
"Gene! Where are you, baby, can't see you!"  
  
Gene sighed, "I'm not on the screen, Fred."  
  
"Oooh, having a bad hair day? Common out, silly! Don't be afraid of what I'll think, no matter how hideous you think you look!"  
  
Gene growled, "I'm not over there, Fred, and I'm not hideous… Just tell me what you told Jim so I can go." He started back to the front of Trew Gates and went inside.  
  
"I know you're not ugly, Genie, no worries! This is the deal. I have warehouses filled with your stuff, and I can't hold onto it any longer! You haven't paid, you've only ordered, and you haven't come to pick it up."  
  
Gene climbed the stairs and found the Child Welfare door. He went inside.  
  
"I have a new shipment coming in two weeks, Genie, and I need those warehouses for space."  
  
"Stop calling me Genie," Gene scowled.  
  
"New shipment, Genie. I need the room for the new stuff!"  
  
Gene snorted, "I heard you the first time around, Fred."  
  
"Ok, then you'll hear that if you don't come and pick up and pay for your orders, the stuff goes out on sale to the public! Hooray for the public, Gene!"  
  
"Yeah, Fred, hooray…Listen, I can't talk anymore," he had come up to the counter and was now banging fiercely on the little table bell.  
  
"What's that noise, Gene?"  
  
"Nothing. Jim, you still there?" He gave the bell a hard slam on the counter.  
  
"Yep, still here."  
  
"Disconnect me, we're done."  
  
"Noooooo, Gene baby, don't leave me hangin'! When are you coming to get your stuff? No longer than two weeks, remember my new shipment!"  
  
"Yeah, I'll keep that my top priority." Gene leaned over the counter and looked behind the desk. "God, where the hell is that damn Gerison or whatever he said his name was." There was a growl on the other end. Gene sighed, "Fred, we'll be there in a couple weeks."  
  
"How long's a couple, Gene?"  
  
"Oh, say…" The bell slammed again. "A month."  
  
"WHAT! No can do, Gene. Your stuff won't be your stuff in a month."  
  
"Fine, two weeks."  
  
"Two weeks on the dot and before 8 o'clock pm."  
  
"Thank you, Fred, and have a nice day. Jim, disconnect me."  
  
"Bye, Gene!" Jim unhooked the cable, but not before Fred got in his good- bye.  
  
"Good-bye, Genie Baby! Don't be to naughty!"  
  
Gene sighed, flipped his watch down and picked up the bell to start pounding it against the counter. "LEONARD! HELLO!"  
  
Leonard stuck a fizzy-haired head from a door behind the desk and looked at him over his glasses, "Yes?"  
  
Gene grinned, "Hi, Leonard."  
  
Leonard sighed and his head disappeared into the door again.  
  
"You have my sister, Leonard! Can I have her now? Or should I just…"  
  
Leonard reappeared; papers clenched in his hand, and stepped up to his desk. The flight woman, tugging at her skirt, came out too, followed by the girl. The woman looked up, saw Gene and smiled, then leaned down next to Leonard who handed Gene the papers. Gene glanced at the three, letting his eyes linger on the girl. She had long straight black hair and large golden eyes. Her hair was braided low into pigtails, one thrown over her shoulder and the other behind her back. Gene took the papers, and without looking down, signed the release forms.  
  
"Gene Starwind…" Leonard typed into his computer, "Now has custody of Sara Dougle." He looked up, gave him a look then stepped away from his desk and opened another door, herding the flight woman and Sara out into the office. Gene stepped back as the woman extended her hand.  
  
"Hi, I'm Lauren, I traveled with Sara on the ship." He took her hand and shook it gently. Vicky reached out behind her and grabbed Sara, pushing her forward. "Well, have fun you two. Call the company if you need anything at all." With another smile, she and Leonard disappeared into the door and back to the back room.  
  
Gene looked Sara up and down. She doesn't look like mom at all, he thought, looking at her black hair and yellow eyes. She had on practical flight clothing, a warm pair of green pants with a gray sweatshirt tied around her waist. Her shoulders were bare because of the tank top she had on. It had a print of a cat with big shiny eyes and a huge bell tied to its collar. Gene made a face.  
  
"Poor cat…"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Oh…" Gene looked up. "Hi, I guess. I'm Gene." He held out his hand, and Sara looped her plastic bag around his fingers.  
  
"Thanks." She walked out the door. 


End file.
